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Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Review ~ Secrets of the Tower by Debbie Rix

20 March 2015
Bookouture

Love. Passion. An incredible legacy

Two women separated by time,
experience the beautiful city of Pisa in a story which abounds with duplicity, passion
and the temptation of marital infidelity. In 1999, Sam reacts to the news of
her husband, Michael’s infidelity with sadness and confusion, which is made all
the more poignant by discovering her husband has been taken seriously ill
whilst making a documentary film about the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa.

In twelfth century
Pisa, Berta di Bernardo is the young, pampered wife of a rich merchant, who
becomes enamoured by Geraldo, a young mason employed to work on Pisa’s new campanile.
Berta’s unusual interest in the complexities of the campanile’s architecture and
of the internal politics connected with its construction make for fascinating
reading.

What then follows is a cleverly researched
and well written story which succeeds in bringing both the past and present to
life. The clear distinctions between time frames allow the stunning city of
Pisa to come gloriously alive, and whether walking its medieval streets in the
company of Berta and her maid, Aurelia, or watching Sam pick up ice cold frappes and
shopping for clothes in the modern day piazzas, the sense of time and place is
authentic and really rather beautiful.

There is no doubt that this is a
commendable debut novel. The author has a real gift for storytelling and by
using her own experiences of modern day Pisa, she allows Sam and Michael’s very
modern marriage dilemma to be played out with an authenticity which is both poignant
and thought provoking. And yet for me, the real heart and soul of the novel was
played out in the thoughts and feelings evoked by the twelfth century protagonists
and of the constrictions placed on women. Keeping company with Berta and
Aurelia as they go about their daily business made for compelling reading and certainly
kept me turning the pages long into the night to see just how their story would
play out.

Pisa, both past and present comes
alive with a lovely authenticity and the story sits comfortably within its dual
time frame. I am sure Secrets of the Tower will appeal to historical fiction
fans everywhere, and it’s certainly a book to load onto a reading device should you
be heading to Italy on holiday.

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